Pachuca

[blodeuedd]

Hmm, found a connexion sooner than I thought!

Today was decidedly mixed. On one hand, we got out of Oaxaca early and made incredibly good time on the toll highway. On the other hand, we were stopped by a police officer outside Mexico City because our license plate ends with a 4 and today is the day 3s and 4s are not allowed to circulate. Apparently that extends to outlying communities as well (we thought we'd avoid the problem by taking the long way around) and we had to pay a hefty fine (bribe) so he'd let us go.

Not much else exciting, as we spent the day on the road. Ah, but we did drive through cactus country; there are seriously forests of cacti on either side of the highway. I was despairing of ever getting a photo of them when we found a lookout (nowhere near an actual cactus, but we could see lots down in the valley) and then a few km later there was a stop with what looked like a cactus garden right by the shoulder, so we could snap away to our hearts' content.

Comments

[blodeuedd.livejournal.com]

Mexico City is so polluted that there's a law that prohibits cars from circulating certain days (Mon-Fri, 2 numbers per day) to try to reduce the fumes. Apparently it's pretty easy for people who live in city to bribe an official to give them a sticker for their car that lets them drive any day, regardless of their license plate.